I Learned from the Best

I grew up
living four doors
down from Peter Pan…
we spent
elementary school
in too many adventures
to recall…
running with
The Lost Boys…
battling pirates
and Indians…

during
my awkward
jr. high school days…
the Marvel superheroes
set up headquarters
a couple blocks
from my folks house…
for awhile
I hung around
the mutant X-Men
and moody Hulk…
but I soon grew bored
with their comic book
routine…

so I found
a summer job mowing
Mr. Hefner’s lawn…
a large estate
in a high end
part of town…
with a big, green lawn…
he tipped real well…
always stopped
to ask how I was doing…
a real class act…

it was an
eye opening
experience for me…
I learned anatomy
from the beauties
that hung out
around his pool…
life seemed grand
and I mistakenly
believed
I had the world
by the short hairs…

when I started
high school
the next year
a new kid…
James Dean…
raced down my street…
into my neighborhood…
and showed me
just how confused
I really was…
the world
was a tough place…
often a cruel place…
I hadn’t seen it…
but I learned quick…
another confused
teenager stumbling
through life’s
mine-fields…

James
gave me a copy
of ‘Catcher in the Rye’…
my eyes were opened…
I learned about angst
and teen rebellion…
and how no one
could understand me…
not the real me…
poor angry me…
I learned to revel
in my pain…

then fate stepped in
and Jimmy checked out
behind the wheel
of his fast car…

and this
sad teen
wannabe
ached for more…

so interests
led me into the
realm of rock n’ roll..
the voice of the
put-upon teen…

and it was
at this time
I started hanging out
at Zappa’ house…
and got into the
intellectual craziness
of his band of
Mothers…

my hair grew…
my mind expanded…
and I was dumped
into a world
of Zen and Tao…
of LSD and Psilocybin…
of Herman Hesse
and Ken Kesey…
of Carlos Castenadas
and Allen Ginsburg…
of Led Zepplin
and the Fugs…

and
when I was finally
squeezed out the
far end of the 60’s…
I’d been across
the country
three times…
been to art school
in the Vieux Carre…
worked the clubs
on the Sunset Strip…
crashed in Berkley…
cruised the Haight…
and sowed those
seeds we heard
about as kids…

today
I can reflect
on my grand education…
and look at where it
has taken me…
at where I’ve been…
and feel fortunate
that I have learned
from the best…

me
and the lost boys…

R. C. Arquette
10/2/07